Sometimes it's just not worth trying to be cheap

Once again, our attempt to be frugal has backfired.

Ruth had wanted a pair of walking shoes. She didn't want anything fancy, just something to wear when she wasn't wearing her hiking boots or sandals.

Crazy stuff!

Thursday afternoon we went for a walk along the road north of here that follows the shoreline towards Colorines. 

There is a big gated community on the hill and we wondered if they would let us in to go for a walk around.

A trip into town

We needed to do some more grocery shopping, plus we hadn't yet wandered around town. So we hopped into a collectivo taxi that runs by the roadway out front to take us into the center of Valle de Bravo. 

The cost is 25 pesos ($1.75 CAD, $1.25 USD) per person one way.

A sad day in the RV blogging world

When we started writing this blog many years ago, there were several other RV'ers also writing blogs. And although we were among the first, having began in 2007, there was one other RV blog that began the year before us... Al and Kelly from The Bayfield Bunch.

It was most common for these RV bloggers to use the same Blogger platform that we do, and many of them had read each others blogs, so it was easy to follow each others travels and sometimes even meet up when the routes crossed.

Fun afternoon out on Lake Avandaro

Paco and Oti had some friends visiting, and they invited us to join them all in their boat for a tour out on the lake.

Once again, an absolutely gorgeous day.

We're pretty excited

A week from tomorrow we fly back to Cancun. We were only there a month ago, but of course it was just a one night stopover on our way to pick up Igor at the border. 

This time, it's to meet our daughter and grandchildren. And even though that area of Mexico isn't our favorite, we're pretty excited!

Well that was a fun day!

Market day is Sunday in Valle de Bravo, but just for a change we decided that we would go to the Saturday market in the town of Colorines, about 16 kms (10 miles) away.

We have to take the collectivo (shared taxi) to get there, and it costs 25 pesos ($1.75 CAD, $1.25 USD) per person each way.

New friends, and other news!

Last week when we were in Valle de Bravo doing some shopping, we overheard someone speaking English. And as they walked past, I mentioned to them that's not a language we hear very often in this area.

That started a five minute conversation, and by the end of it, we were invited for lunch!

Views above Valle de Bravo

We finally got up enough ambition to get some exercise. So we set off to walk up a road that leads behind the village of San Gaspar, about a kilometer away. We have done this hike a couple of times in past years.

However this time, we got to the path that leads off the road and there is now a locked gate. We spoke to a local guy, and he suggested a different route that led up to a quartz quarry.

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November Expenses

November was yet another expensive month. It started off in Ottawa, Canada and ended up in Valle de Bravo, Mexico! So, there was quite a lot of travel expense involved.

I had guessed a budget of $3,750 CAD, and we ended up spending $4,769 CAD ($3,389 USD). We actually did pretty good, considering most of the extra comes down to a new laptop for me, and Igor's fuel pump needing replacing. Two things that we couldn't have planned on. Otherwise, we were actually pretty close to target.

Another beautiful day in Mexico...

Just a relaxing day yesterday!

Friends Paco and Oti took off back to their house in Toluca, but they will return here on Friday. Really nice that they left out their sun loungers and hammock so that we can use them while they're gone!

Sunday is market day in Valle de Bravo

We always love market day! The weekly tianguis markets in Mexico is where you go to get the best prices on the freshest produce, and there is always lots of delicious street food available.

We set off with Paco and Oti at about 10:30am to head into town. Sunday is a busy day in Valle de Bravo, so best to arrive early to get a decent parking spot!

Back to Igor, and a nice surprise!

We didn't have to leave our hotel room until noon, so we went down for breakfast around 8:30am and then had showers and took our time getting ready. The plan was to walk from the Mexico City historic district to the Observatorio bus terminal... a distance of about 11 kms (6.8 miles).

And we had a couple of stops to make along the way.

Walked our feet off again!

It was a pretty good included breakfast here at the hotel. Scrambled eggs, toast, sausages, mixed vegetables, fruit, and of course coffee, tea, and hot chocolate. As I said yesterday, we got a good deal at 773 pesos ($53 CAD, $38 USD) a night. I forgot to mention the name of the hotel... it's the Hotel MX lagunilla. Wouldn't hesitate to come back here. 

The only drawback is that it's beside a busy road, and there is a fair amount of road noise if you get a room facing the street, which we did. One of the interior rooms would be quieter, but without the view. It's a tradeoff.